EBay Bids for Calif. Town Top $1.6M

A Christmas Day online bidding war breached the minimum bid and further drove up the price on eBay for the entire town of Bridgeville to more than $1.6 million.

By 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, the offer for the town had soared to $1,610,600, well above the reserve price of $775,000.

The tiny town located 260 miles north of San Francisco went on the online auction block Nov. 27. The bidding closes Friday.

Elizabeth Lapple, who has owned Bridgeville since 1985, said she believes the bidding likely will reach $2 million. Lapple said she remains realistic about whether or not the highest bidder will pull through and hopes that whoever eventually buys the town can afford to develop it.

Lapple, who lives in Bridgeville with her husband Joe, estimates it would cost about $200,000 to fix-up the town, where opinion varies on whether the successful bidder would be getting a money pit or a gold mine.

"The reason I'm selling it is that I know I'll never have that much," Lapple said. "We haven't really had any trouble finding people who want to buy it, but a lot of people don't have the money."

The online action was frenetic Wednesday, with unknown bidders lifting the proposed sales price for the town from about $800,000 to nearly double that in just a few hours.

Bridgeville features about 80 acres, with a mile and a half of riverbank on the Van Duzen River, four cabins, nine houses, a cemetery and a backhoe. The listing on eBay boasts that the buyer would get "an entire working town, with shops, woodworking, plumbing, glass and electrical."

EBay spokesman Chris Donlay said it was the first time an entire town has been for sale on eBay.

Bridgeville would make a great location for a bed and breakfast, said postmaster Rose Clarke.